Friendsgiving Menu Planning

I worked through the morning, ate lunch, worked some more and then finally decided that a workout just isn’t happening today. If I don’t make it to the gym or take Sadie for a run before noon, a rest day will more than likely take the place of a workout.

Rest days are important, too!

Lunch

Lunch today revolved around one thing: Caesar dressing.

I bought this Bolthouse Farms yogurt-based Caesar-Parmigiano salad dressing a little while ago and when I tried it, I was instantly smitten!

I usually prefer vinaigrette dressings to creamy dressings, but something about the parmesan flavor of this Caesar dressing called to me. It ended up being a great impulse buy, Yes, it was the dressing that motivated me to eat a salad for lunch today!

Diane’s pineapple souffle (I need to get this recipe from my mother-in-law and share it with you guys because it is unreal.)

Am I forgetting anything major?

I am also hoping for your help when it comes to dessert!

Neither Ryan nor I have any strong associations with fabulous Thanksgiving desserts. (Remember the year of the ice bath pumpkin mousse!?) When I think of Thanksgiving dessert, I think of pumpkin pie and apple pie, but I feel like you guys might have some fun suggestions for slightly more decadent and creative sweet treats. (No Cherpumple, please!)

omg. I love mixing my peas with my mashed potatoes too! And I also got it from my dad! haha. So weird! This sounds like a fabulous event and I would love to do something like this once we have the space.

So glad to see my beloved Morningstar burgers incorporated into your meal! I eat a salad with 2 Morningstar burgers almost every day, but my favorite is the Cali Turk’y burger (they are phenomenal)!! I forgot about the black bean burgers and may have purchase some next time.

Is there a reason why you don’t eat soy burgers more often? Are you worried about eating too much soy or do you just prefer real meat?

i love the california turk’y burger!!! and there isn’t a real reason i don’t eat them more often other than that i just forget about them b/c they’re in the freezer. i LOVE the pizza burger, too. it’s a great afternoon snack!

So I’ve noticed recently that you’ve stopped doing 3 meals per day which I totally get and understand, that’s a lot of time and work! But do you think maybe some days you could include your dinner? I used to get so many wonderful ideas from this blog for dinner and would love it if you could include it on morning posts or in replace of Thank you so much!

This is such a fantastic idea! My family always makes popovers for our thanksgiving meal. But friendsgiving sounds even better! We always have pie, but I don’t like it so I make sure to bring myself some decadent ice cream like Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked froyo to make up for it

My family does Lime Mallow. It’s a mix of lime jello, cool whip, and pineapple chunks. It’s definitely a little weird, but so traditional for my family. My grandma used to say our family brought it over on the Mayflower. 1) My family didn’t come over on the Mayflower. 2) There wasn’t jello back in the day. She thought it made the recipe sound better. We always butterscotch pie too, which we did bring over with us from Scotland.

Coconut dream pie! Its rich but light and airy. My mom got the recipe 20 years ago and makes it every year. It uses pudding and dream whip as the main ingredients. I could get the recipe if you’re interested.

We like to mix it up on Thanksgiving and include a family recipe ice cream dessert – it’s called Yummy Yummy dessert. Because it’s just that…yummy. It’s a crust made of crushed Oreos and Heath bars, topped with 2 layers of ice cream (usually vanilla and mint chip are among the fave) and topped with hot fudge/carmel and more crumbles of Oreo and Heath bars! I’m telling you, it’s ridiculously good. Let me know if you want the exact recipe!

Ok, you totally inspired me to host a Friendsgiving this year! It’s such a cute idea and I am super excited about it. Instead of turkey I am going to make stuffed acorn squash as the main dish- still need to figure out the sides though! (but mashed potatoes for sure).

Derby pie is to die for! [It’s a pecan and chocolate based pie]. Or maybe a trifle? With a chocolate mousse layer, a cake/brownie layer, a nut/toffee layer, a whipped cream layer…the possibilities are endless!

My aunt makes stuffing just like that and I LOVE it! It’s my favorite thanksgiving dish as well! Also, we made Pioneer Woman’s mashed potatoes last year and they were the best I’ve ever had! Who knew to add cream cheese to them? Yum!

You have inspired me to have a Friendsgiving of my own this year, but what we are doing is having it Friday night after Thanksgiving, so everyone brings a leftover (touched up of course) and then we’re turning it into a Christmas Tree Lighting party as well! Woohoo!!! So we get rid of the leftovers and enjoy some friend-time as well. Thanks for the idea!!!

Besides the turkey my favorite part of thanksgiving meals is the sweet potato casserole! I think I could just eat that for dessert and be quite happy! ha You should definitely make your pumpkin dip though, that sounded so delicious!

Thanksgiving is such a random holiday for me because I was such a picky eater as a child that I still have these bad habits as an adult. Although I will TRY more things now of course but I just don’t like alot of things, including Turkey.
I think we I have these awful memories of getting to taste turkey on Thanksgiving after it was passed around to the adults first and by the time it got to myself and my siblings at the kids table, it was freezing cold. So I would pile on the salt. And that didn’t make it taste any better.
I finally tasted mashed potatoes for the first time maybe 5 or 6 years ago. Again, I was just a really picky eater as a child and something that was all mashed up didnt appeal to me.
So NOW, I will make something simple like an Apple Stuffing (apple cider instead of water and apple slices mixed in, deeelish!) and one year my aunt made me a Spinach and Artichoke lasagna when I went vegetarian for a year. Everyone loved it, including the meat lovers.

you have a bubbe???? my mom is bubbe to my twin girls!!
anyways, my fav thanksgiving dish is…… wow so many good things to chose from but if i had to pick one i would say i like the whole berry cranberry sauce! and my fav dessert would be prob pumpkin pie with pecan pie as a a very close second!!
also i make a delicious homemade pumpkin cheesecake with a yummy homemade gingersnap crust! mmmmm!

I know I’m WAY late to this post, but I wanted to share my butterscotch pecan pie recipe for your next Friendsgiving menu! I just buy the pie dough (I’m too lazy to make my own) and press it into a pie plate and chill for 30 mins. Preheat the oven t0 425 and place a baking sheet in the oven to heat for 30 minutes. For the filling: Brown 6 TB butter and let cool. Mix together 2 eggs, 3/4 c packed light brown sugar, 3/4 c light corn syrup, 1/4 c cream, 2 TB scotch, 1 TB flour, 2 tsp vanilla extract and 1/4 tsp salt. Add the browned butter once it’s cooled. Spread 2 1/4 c toasted pecan halves on top of the pie dough, pour the filling in, and place the pie on the hot baking sheet. Lower the oven temp to 325 and bake 45-55 minutes, until the filling is mostly set. This pie is YUM and my husband pretty much does whatever I want when I make it

I’m Julie and I am a group exercise instructor, personal trainer and blogger living in Charlotte, North Carolina. Welcome to my blog! Peanut Butter Fingers follows my life and my interests in food, fitness, family, travel and (mostly) healthy living.

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I am not a registered dietitian. My blog is simply a documentation of my life. The views I express are mine alone, based on my own experiences, and should not be taken as medical advice. I DO NOT post everything I eat. Though I am a certified personal trainer, the workouts I post may not be right for you. Please speak with a medical professional before making any changes to your current routine.

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